Naruto Triumphs Again
by inkspot823
Summary: Naruto, Neji, and Aoba are on a mission to bring people back to help with the rebuilding of Konoha. All seems well, if Neji can keep himself from killing Naruto!


AN: Another challenge story. But it more me just loving how awesome Naruto is, how short Neji's temper is, and poking fun at how we don't love Aoba enough….

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Neji was sure his dentist was going to love him. He ground his teeth together in attempts to try and drown out Naruto's incisive talking. Aoba, who was also on the mission with them, seemed calm and collected. Neji wondered how he could put up with it when he noticed that Aoba was listening to his I-pod.

Looking at him irately, Neji went back to trying to drown out Naruto's chattering. He was sure by the time he got back to Konoha there would nothing in his mouth but little teeth nubs and his tongue. If only he could figure some way to make him shut up. He was worse than Lee and Gai. Well, maybe not together. He shuddered. Ugh. He hated group hugs. It screamed gay, and most on the time Tenten managed to get out of them. He would have to figure out how she did that one of these days.

Then, a sudden though accrued to him. He turned to Naruto, a small smiled playing at the corners of his mouth. "Hey Naruto. You want to be strong like Gai and Lee, right?"

He nodded eagerly. "I sure do! Man! What I wouldn't give for speed and power like that!"

"Well, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you with Gai - sensei if you be quiet."

"Oh! Right, I got it! You won't hear a thing out of me! Not a single thing!"

"Good."

"Yeah! That's me. Quiet as a mouse!"

"Great."

"Never even know I was here!"

"Naruto! Shut up!"

Aoba pulled a headphone out of his ear and looked at them. "Neji, why are you being so loud? I can hear you over my music. Why can't you be quiet like Naruto?"

Neji gaped at the accusation, and Naruto chuckled darkly in the background. Glaring at him over his shoulder, he decided that he would get him back sooner or later. Now he just to decide how.

As the three of the shinobi wandered into the village, Naruto glanced around curiously before leaning over and whispering in Neji's ear, much to Neji's annoyance.

"So what are we doing here again?"

"Persuading people to come help with the rebuilding of Konoha." He hissed. He was beginning to see why Sakura was always punching Naruto in the face.

"How do we do that?"

"We talk to them, you idiot."

Naruto nodded. "OK, so what do I say?"

"Don't worry about it." Neji said waving him off. He wandered through the crowd making his way to the town square.

Aoba followed behind him with Naruto. With a frown, he looked over at the eager blond.

"I thought I was the leader on this mission. Why is Neji suddenly acting like he's in charge?"

Naruto looked him up and down. "Who are you again?" He asked innocently. "You kind of look like Shino, or his dad, but your not. Are you maybe his uncle or something?"

"You don't remember me?" Aoba was suddenly sulking.

'Oh man.' Naruto thought. 'He is so definitely related to Shino.'

When they reached the town square, Aoba was talking to Neji, his tone hushed, hurt, and slightly angry.

"He doesn't even know my name Neji! We've done this three times! How many times will it take before he remembers my name?!"

"I don't know, Aoba! And you shouldn't expect too much from him. I respect him because he teaches people through the way he fights, but he can be a real idiot too."

"But I've told my name ten times already!" Aoba whined.

Neji ground his teeth. "Look, if you have time to whine and complain about it, then you have time to do something about it! So go!"

Aoba looked a little hurt. But he cleared his throat a little. "So, oh great leader, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to stand on his park bench and talk to the people. Hopefully, I'll attract some attention and people will come listen to me."

Aoba sighed. "I don't think that will work real well."

"Oh shut up. It will work fine."

"Whatever you say…." Aoba walked away to try and talk to Naruto. Maybe he could actually get Naruto to remember his name this time.

Neji cleared his throat and stood up on the park bench. "People! May I have your attention please!!?" A few passerbies's looked at him curiously. "Konoha has taken serious damage lately, and we need all the help we can get trying to repair our city!"

Aoba stopped talking to Naruto to watch Neji's unsuccessful attempts of attracting attention for a few minutes before going back to chatting with Naruto. After about an hour an a half, Neji got down off the bench, having nearly screamed himself hoarse. He looked at Aoba in confusion.

"I don't get it! Why won't people listen to me?"

Aoba allowed himself a rare smile. "Ironically, making a statement with words is the least effective method. I was trying to tell you that earlier, but you wouldn't listen to me."

Neji scowled. "Then what do suggest we do?"

Aoba's expression became rather smug, as he turned and walked over to Naruto. "Naruto, our mission is to bring back as many people as possible to repair Konoha."

Naruto nodded. "So what do you want me to say?"

"You figure it out. Just remember, the more people to come to help rebuild Konoha, the faster Ichiraku's can be rebuilt."

Naruto was suddenly everywhere at once, pleading with people to come back.

"Hey! You! Yeah you! You look pretty strong! We could really use your help! Konoha's been completely leveled, and we need all the help we can get! Go tell your friends and come right back here! Ladies! We need your help too! With Konoha the way it is, everybody needs to work, and children need to be watched, food needs to be made, paperwork needs to be filled out and filed, and we could always use another pretty nurse! Hey! Little kids can help too! You're never too small to help! The kids in Konoha sing songs for the men to work to, so that everything works in time! I bet you all have beautiful voices too! We could sure use people like you to help rebuild the village!"

Neji's jaw hit the ground with an audible thump. Aoba just smiled as he watched the growing crowd of people.

"That's how you do it." He whispered.

Neji glared. "You could have told me that before I made a fool of myself."

"Maybe, but it was more fun this way. We'll be able to leave with everybody first thing in the morning if he keeps going like this." His glasses glinted happily.

"Huh." Neji pouted.

"And you know what else?" Aoba asked softly, whispering in Neji's ear. "He remembers my name."


End file.
